EXCLUSIVE — Hudson Valley Congressman Pat Ryan, the decorated combat veteran rising to the front of the Democratic Party, is endorsing Cait Conley in his neighboring district’s primary, he told The Judge Street Journal in an exclusive statement.
“She’s exactly the kind of fighter New York’s 17th District needs, and she’s the strongest candidate in this race to defeat Mike Lawler,” Ryan said. “That’s why I’m proud to endorse her in this race, and I look forward to working alongside her in Congress to make the Hudson Valley more affordable, more safe, and more free.”
Conley is a Special Operations veteran who later served as Director of Counterterrorism under President Joe Biden. Her campaign is focused on healthcare, affordability, and investment in infrastructure—all in the tone of a warrior who has returned home to defend democracy.
“In the Special Ops community, there is a saying: Run to the sound of the guns,” she says in her launch ad titled “LFG.” “Protecting what makes this country great is why I’m running now—because the politicians who created this mess are not going to be the ones who fix it.”
Ryan is an unusual breed of Democrat who has synthesized patriotism and rural populism with so much tact and charm that he trounced his Republican opponent by 14 points one month after hosting AOC in his district. The photo-op would have been kryptonite for anyone else with as many Trump-voting constituents as Ryan. But it only demonstrated the electoral strength of a candidate who can speak passionately about both America and affordability.
Conley is vying for a similar approach in a district that has eluded the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the last two cycles.
“He didn’t take an oath to a party, he took it to the American people, and he’s lived up to that responsibility every single day in Congress, fighting tooth and nail to deliver real results for Hudson Valley working families,” Conley told the Journal. “That’s the type of leadership New York’s 17th deserves and it’s why I’m running.”
Last cycle, Lawler kept Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones at bay by hammering the centrist convert on his old lefty priors. And two years before that, the Republican trounced DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney with a viral ad campaign of a clip in which he vowed to end cash bail.
Conley won’t have that problem, and as the Trump administration continues to corrode civil liberties, her victory would aid the Democratic Party’s efforts to cultivate its perception as the patriotic defender of civic decency. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill found success with a similar approach last year.
NY-17 includes Rockland, northern Westchester, Putnam and parts of Dutchess counties, and it’s one of the most expensive media markets in the country. Right now, Conley’s two biggest obstacles in the primary stand to be Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson and former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky, who recently injected $5 million of his own savings into his campaign.
In October, Conley and Davidson were the only two candidates in the NY-17 primary to get the DCCC’s invite to its Candidate Week. At the start of the month, Conley announced she had $1.2 million in her coffers.
Yesterday, the Cook Political Report changed its rating of NY-17 from “Lean Republican” to “Toss up.”
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